The Department of Popular Culture and the Browne Popular Culture Library at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio are proud to announce the Batman in Popular Culture Conference on Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13, 2019. The Batman in Popular Culture conference aims to examine Batman in Popular Culture in all mediums and media. It is intended to serve as a space for academics, graduate students, comic industry professionals, retailers and fans to engage in dialogue about topics related to Batman in its many media forms, mediums and cultural influence in popular culture and beyond. The scope of this conference is deliberately broad, with the intention of highlighting the interdisciplinary nature and many different avenues of research possible related to Batman in Popular Culture.

The development of supporting characters, villains, and themes within the Batman mythos

Batman in Popular Music

Batman in Film, Television, and Animation

The rise of Batman-centric podcasts

Batman as a mass merchandising phenomenon

Batman VS. Superman

Batman and video games

The role of diversity issues (race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality) within Batman’s world

Batman within the Comics Industry (writing, drawing, retailing, etc.)

Batman art and covers across the decades

How authors build an audience in an era of subgenre specialization

Reception and fan communities for Batman and the superhero genre

Digital Humanities approaches to Comics and Mass Media Studies with emphasis on Batman

We welcome individual proposals or pre-formed panels that address any or all of these themes. As the conference seeks to provide a multitude of perspectives, academic presentations and those from outside the academy are welcome.

Please send a 300-word abstract describing your individual presentation to bgsubatman@gmail.com with “Batman in Popular Culture” in the subject line. (Panel, roundtable, performance, and artistic display proposals should include a 300 proposal for each individual and a 500-word proposal explaining the group presentation.) Submissions should be sent in a document attachment with the following information: